Statement of the Hon. Thomas M. Reynolds, a Representatives in Congress from the State of New York

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Welfare Reform Reauthorization Proposals

April 11, 2002

Good afternoon.  I would like to begin by thanking my colleague, Chairman Wally Herger for allowing me to participate in today's hearing.  I appreciate his graciousness in letting me testify on my bill, H.R. 844, at this hearing.  The task before this panel of reforming our welfare system is a challenging one, and I have complete confidence that this important work is in good hands.

With that Mr. Chairman, I appear before you today to discuss a related issue - H.R. 844, which would create a Supplemental Security Income exclusion for those blind veterans receiving an additional annuity from their state.  H.R. 844 will amend Title XVI of the Social Security Act to provide that annuities paid by States to blind veterans shall be disregarded in determining SSI benefits.

After World War I, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts wanted to do something to provide extra assistance to their state's blind veterans.   Since then, the legislatures of those states have provided a yearly annuity to those veterans who sustained a loss of sight resulting from their service in any of our theatres of war.  Blind veterans in New York receive $1000, New Jersey $750, Pennsylvania $1800, and Massachusetts $1500.  Recently, New York and New Jersey extended that benefit to eligible surviving spouses.

These state payments to blind veterans are currently counted as a form of unearned income; and, since current law allows those receiving SSI only $530 in income per month, these annuities actually result in an unfair penalty on our blind veterans.

Worse, since the only people being denied the full benefit of this annuity are those on SSI, we are, in fact, penalizing the poorest blind veterans in those states.

Latest statistics show that there are a total of only 5,179 blind veterans living in these four states.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates the cost of this bill at less than $500,000 per year.  Additionally, they estimate the number of veterans who do not currently qualify for SSI because of the state annuities, but who would qualify under this bill, to also be very small.

I need to point out, however, that this estimated fiscal impact is misleading, since no blind veteran would receive a penny more in SSI benefits than they are already entitled.  The dollar amount determined by CBO is merely what the federal government has saved because of the states annuity.  Had these states not offered this generous contribution to these veterans, we already would have been spending an amount equal to the CBO estimate. 

This bill only asks for fairness for the blind veterans living in these four states, by   disregarding the state annuity as unearned income, and having the federal government pay them the full SSI benefit for which they would normally be entitled.

Additionally, I would like to point out that with the exception of Pennsylvania, there has been only one increase to the state annuities since World War I.  Pennsylvania has had two increases.  It is difficult for the states to continually increase the blind veteran annuity for obvious budgetary reasons.  Therefore, there should not be concern that this exclusion will give the states any additional incentive to repeatedly increase the amount they give blind veterans.

Mr. Chairman, there have been 46 exclusions made to SSI since 1972 and I am here today to request one more.  I recently contacted the Social Security Administration to seek technical comment on H.R. 844.  The only change SSA suggested was a clarification that eligibility for the exclusion be based on the state's determination of blindness, rather than the SSA's.  I have no problem making this change and welcome any other comment from the Administration, or the committee.

These annuities are both well-meaning and well-deserved, benefiting those who gave up their sight in service to their country.  At this time in America's history, it is especially fitting that we work to improve the lives of those who answered our nation's call.

In closing, I believe that we need to do everything we can to help this small group of needy veterans, and I am asking for this committee's help in achieving this purpose.  I look forward to your comments and the committee's commitment to seeing this important legislation passed as soon as possible. 

Again, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to appear before you today and I would be happy to answer any questions my colleagues may have.